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Ecosocialist Bookshelf, October 2015

Posted on October 28, 2015

Five new books for green-lefts and left-greens … two on capitalism and environmental destruction, and three on the Anthropocene

Ecosocialist Bookshelf is a semi-regular feature. We can’t review every book we receive, but we will list and link to any that seem relevant to Climate & Capitalism’s mission, along with an excerpt from the publisher’s description. Titles listed here may be reviewed in future.

Two important new books on capitalism and environmental destruction …

Christopher Wright and Daniel NybergCLIMATE CHANGE, CAPITALISM, AND CORPORATIONS Processes of Creative Self-Destruction Cambridge University Press This book explores the complex relationship that the corporate world has with climate change and examines the central role of corporations in shaping political and social responses to the climate crisis. The principal message of the book is that despite the need for dramatic economic and political change, corporate capitalism continues to rely on the maintenance of ‘business as usual.’

Stefano B. Longo, Rebecca Clausen and Brett ClarkTHE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMODITY Oceans, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Rutgers University Press In a critique of the classic theory “the tragedy of the commons” by ecologist Garrett Hardin, the authors move beyond simplistic explanations—such as unrestrained self-interest or population growth—to argue that it is the commodification of aquatic resources that leads to the depletion of fisheries and the development of environmentally suspect means of aquaculture. The authors highlight the historical, political, economic, and cultural forces that shape how we interact with the larger biophysical world.

Jedediah PurdyAFTER NATURE A Politics for the Anthropocene Harvard University Press Climate change is planetary engineering without design. These facts of the Anthropocene are scientific, but its shape and meaning are questions for politics—a politics that does not yet exist. After Nature develops a politics for this post-natural world.